Container assemblies may have a removable closure that can be separated from the container without a separate tool. The removal of the closure may expose a metal lid or liner that seals the contents of the container, for example, a food product. The container assemblies may be made of materials to permit them to be reheated in a microwave oven. The metal lid or liner may include a pull tab to facilitate its removal. After removal of the metal lid or liner, the closure may then be reattached to the container for a heating operation within a microwave oven.
Closures that heretofore have been designed may include an inner groove into which a lip of a container is fitted. The removal of the closure from an associated container may be relatively difficult since the closure may need to be distorted and/or expanded and forced over the lip of the container. Further, the manner of removal of the closure from the container may not be intuitive to an infrequent user. Moreover, such closures may be difficult to manufacture.
Separate moveable locking portions have been incorporated into closure designs to facilitate removal of the closure from an associated container. Such closures, however, may still be difficult to remove from a container in that the locking portions may require use of a relatively large force or may be inconveniently situated. Further, the manner of use of the locking portion may not be intuitively obvious to an infrequent user.
What is needed therefore is an improved container and closure assembly. What is further needed is a closure that may be easily removed from an associated container. What is also needed is a closure that is configured so that its manner of use is intuitive to an infrequent user.